The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has urged employers in the public and private sectors to register their employees under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).
This, it said, was to protect workers’ interest and address the need for workers compensation on temporary job loss, residential mortgage, emolument payment, severance packages, access to credit savings amongst others.
PenCom believes that the contributory pension scheme would ensure that workers have accrued rights to a particular funds as entitlement.
Director-general, PenCom, Aisha Dahir-Umar gave the assertion at the 2023 Labour Writers Association of Nigeria (LAWAN) workshop, in Lagos. She said, it has recovered N384.28 million as pension contributions owed workers by defaulting employers in the first quarter (Q1) of 2023.
Speaking on the sideline of the Labour Writers workshop with the theme, ‘Securing the Future: the Benefits of the Contributory Pension Scheme to Nigerian Workers’, Dahiru-Umar stated that, the amount recovered by the commission is from January 2023 to March 31, 2023.
Aisha Dahir-Umar who was represented by the head of corporate communications, PenCom, Abdulqadir Dahiru, said: N384.28 million was recovered from 34 defaulting employers.
She said, PenCom is committed to protecting workers’ interests and ensuring that employers pay pension contributions as and when due.
“PenCom is determined to ensure that Nigerian workers receive their retirement benefits in time. The commission’s meticulous regulation and supervision of the pension industry had ensured that pension assets and the contributory pension scheme (CPS) membership continued to grow,” she pointed out.
Speaking further on pension recoveries, she said, the value of pension assets stood at N15.58 trillion as at March 31, while CPS membership was 9.95 million.
The PenCom director-general said in 2022, the commission launched a policy allowing retirement savings account (RSA) holders to utilise a portion of their retirement savings as equity for mortgages.
She said the policy marked a significant milestone in the commission’s ongoing efforts to provide greater flexibility and access to pension funds for the benefit of RSA holders.
“We recognise that many individuals face challenges in securing adequate housing upon retirement, and we aim to address this issue by unlocking the value of their pension savings to facilitate homeownership,” she added.
“Under this new policy, RSA holders who have contributed to their accounts for at least five years and met specific eligibility criteria can utilise up to 25 per cent of their pension savings as equity contribution towards acquiring residential properties.
“This policy aligns with our commitment to ensuring that pension funds catalyse economic development and social wellbeing.”
